Toy monorail train and handcar



p 1944- -c. P. LENT TOY MONORAIL TRAIN AND HAND CAR Filed June 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 f ,INVENT April 18, 1944. Q LENT 2,346,978

TOY MONORAIL TRAIN AND HAND CAR Filed June 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 64W? i ldg p l 1944. c. P. LENT TOY MONORAIL TRAIN AND HAND CAR Filed June 5-, 19:59 3 Sheets-Sheet s m T m V. m

Patented Apr. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,TOY 'MONORAIL TRAIN .ANDHANDCAR Constantin Paul Lent, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application June .5, 1939, -'Serial No. 277,388

6 Claims. (Cl. l05'14 1 This invention relates to monorail toy trains, monorail toy hand cars and to such toys by which .a :set of figures are given a realistic animated movement. These figures may represent newspaper stripcomics, fMickey Mouse, animal cartoons and such like.

An object of this invention is a monorail toy train or monorail toy hand car which will operate 1 upon one rail and that iscomparatively inexpen sive to manufacture and safe to operate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a monorail train or hand car and means thereon for retaining such a trainer hand car in straight and upright position on a single rail when such car is not in motion, stands still, and when it is in operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a practical monorail gage of such construction as to be used with spring driven monorail trains or hand cars or with such .electrically driven cars.

Another object of this invention is to provide .a practical and eificient interconnecting means for connecting one rail link to another link.

Other objects and features will appear from the following detailed specification and the accompanying drawings. Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side-view elevation of a monorail hand car.

Fig. 2 is a plan-view elevation of the monorail hand car shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the connection between sections of a monorail.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view of the hand car from the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 1. This view corresponds with'the view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 6a, shows a modification of a spring support for a monorail train.

Fig. '7 shows a monorail hand car operated through a spring wound motor. It also shows a hingeably mounted handle for winding the motor.

Fig. 8 is a section through a modified connection for a monorail joint.

Fig. 9 is a side-view of the monorail connection shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 shows a front-view of a monorail car.

Fig. 11 is a side-view of the monorail hand car shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. .12 is a modified arrangement for. supporting a monorail hand car or train on a monorail.

Referring to'Fig. 1, numeral represents a toy hand car which consists of a left side frame 2! and a right side frame 2| 0:. The side frames 2| and 2|:c have base extensions 22 and 23. At the hinging point 24 there is mounted a hinging arm 25. At both ends 26 of the hinging arm a pair of articulated animated figures 21 are hingeably held. The figures 21 can represent animals, newspaperstrip comics .and such like. In Fig. 1, both of the figures 21 are animated. Although more than .two figures can be used some may standstill and others .may be animated. The hinging arm v25 .is rocked by .the rocking arm 28. The lower .end'of the rocking arm 28 is heldby an eccentric crank mem'berZS which isfastened on the operating or driving shaft-3!. .A pair of single driving wheels 32 are also fastened .to the shafts 39 and Ed. The wheels 32 consist of a double flanged roller. When they are placed over the monorail the flanges of the wheels grip the :rail from both sides.

A driving gear 33 is loosely mounted on the shaft 34. The gear 33 is in .mesh with a gear 35 which is held by the shaft 35a. Another gear 36 is also .held on the .shaft 35a and .is in mesh with the gear 37! whichin turn is .heldon a shaft 3111.

.A gear .38 which meshes with the gear 39 is also will disengage the teeth of the gear 39 and allow the toy to be driven through the action of the spring 40. The depressing of the arm 46 will'act to discontinue the operation of the toy. The

monorail track 4'! is supported in upright position by the cross ties 48.

A supporting leg 49 is fastened by screws or rivets 58 to the frame 2|. The side frame 2la: has bearings 52 which receive a hingeably mounted supporting leg 51. A'coil spring 53 is wound around the leg 5| pressing same against the rail The extension 54 of the supporting leg 5! serves ina manner to allow the operator to swing the leg 5| sideways when placing the toy over the monorail 41 asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

As'the monorail gage is constructed in sections which have to be. fastened together there are provided on one end of .the rail 47 a pair of prongs 28mm which are held bythe cross ties 48. The other end of the rail has'a cross tie 43 which carries a pair of holes 483:. When joining the rails together the prongs 48m: are inserted into the openings or holes 483: of the tie 48.

Referring to Fig. '7, this figure illustrates another modification of the hand car shown in Fig. 1. Instead of winding the spring through a winding shaft 34 inthis case the spring is wound through a hingeably mounted handle 30a The handle tile is hinging at theshaft 39 and op crates a gear segment 36a which turns a gear 55 fastened to the spring winding shaft 55. A spring rollers 10.

30d serves to return the gear segment 30a. The other end of the spring 30d is placed in an opening 380 in the frame 2|. The spring 40 operates a gear 59 through the ratchet wheel and arm 51 and 58. The'gear 59 rotatesa gear 60 which is fastened to the'shaf-t 62. Another gear BI is also fastened to the shaft 62 and is in mesh with the driving gear 63 which is fastened on' to the driving shaft 3|. To wind up the spring of the hand car shown in Fig. 7, the handle 30c is rocked up and down until the spring 40 is fully wound. Then the car is placed over the monorail and the bracket 46a is raised. The bracket 46a is hingeably held at 461). A spring 460 is so arranged as to hold the bracket in both positions when it is necessary to run the toy or stop its operation. y

In Fig. 8 is also shown a modified arrangement for joining the monorail links to each other. In this case a flat plate 69 is placed in between the links 41a and 41b of the monorail 41. This plate is spot welded to the rail 41 only at one of its ends. The other end of the rail is built into a packet or recess 69a to receive an extension of the plate 69 so that when the monorail links are placed end to end the plate 69 of one link is pushed into the recess of the other link. When such links are joined together the result will be a smooth and continuous rail.

In Figs. 10 and 11 is shown amonorail car train. Numeral 8! represents the body of the car. The train can be made to run through a spring wound motor or through an electric motor. In this case a spring wound motor similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 1 is used. To support the car on the monorail supporting legs 49 and are shown which are similar to the legs used in Fig. 1. A difierent manner for supporting the monorail train on the rail gage is shown in Fig. 12. It consists of legs or arms 49 and 5|. The lower part. of. these arms supports a pair of The rollers contact the rail 41 from both sides. Rivets H are used in this case to secure the rollers to the arms 49 and, 5|.

In Fig. 6a, is shown a modified arrangement of a support for a monorail train. In this case instead of having a hingeable arm 5| and a stationary arm 49 a pair of springs 321) are used.

The train is placed upon the rail 41 by pressing the springs upon the rail until they clamp the rail 41.

The foregoing detailed description of the monorail hand car and monorail train has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but it should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

While the monorail hand car and train herein illustrated and. described is confined to certain structural details, I do not wish to limit myself to such details, butdesire to cover all forms and arrangements, being only limited ,by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A monorail toy hand car or the like vehicle including double flanged wheels adapted to run upon a single rail, and means for supporting said hand car in a straight and upright position upon said single rail, said supporting means including a stationary bracket secured to said car and contacting one vertical side of the frame of the rail, for a substantial distance and a manually 0perated bracket moveably securedto said car and contacting the other vertical side of the frame of said rail, said manually operated bracket havall) ing a handle for operating said bracket and moving away from the frame of said rail when placing or removing said toy upon or from the single rail.

2. A monorail or the like vehicle including double flanged wheels adapted to run upon a monorail track, a stationary bracket secured to one side of the body of the monorail vehicle and contacting one vertical side of the frame of said track, for a substantial distance, and a manually hingeable bracket secured to the other side of the body of the vehicle and contacting the other vertical side of the frame of said track, said manually hingeable bracket having a handle, said handle being operated to hinge said bracket away from the frame of the track.

3. A monorail car having wheels adapted to run upon a single rail, means included for driving said wheels, and means for supporting said car in straight and upright position upon said single rail, said supporting means including a pair of brackets secured to said car and contacting either vertical side of the frame of said single rail, for a substantial distance one of said pair of brackets having a. handle and being hingeably movable away from'the frame of said rail for the purpose of facilitating the placing of said monorail car upon the single rail.

4. A monorail car including wheels adapted to run upon a single rail track, and means for preventing the tilting of said car, said tilting preventing means including a rigid member secured to said train and contacting one vertical side of the frame of said rail for a' substantial distance and a manually operated member movably secured to said car and contacting the other vertical side of the frame of said car; said manually operated member moved outwardly and away from the frame of said rail, said outward movement of said movable member facilitating the placing of said car upon the single rail track.

5. A monorail car including wheels disposed in a ingle file thereon and being adapted to run upon a single rail track, propelling means for driving said wheels, and means for preventing the tilting of said train upon said track; said tilting preventive means including a stationary and amovable member attached to said train, the lower portion'of said members comprising a shoe and contacting both vertical sides of said single rail, for a substantial distance said stationary member being rigidly mounted to said car, said movable member flexibly attached to said car, a handle attached to said movablemember, the operation of said handle flexing said movable member outwardly in respect to the frame of said singlerail when placing upon or removing said car from the single rail track.

6. A monorail car or the like vehicle includin flanged wheels adapted to run upon a single rail track, means for balancing saidcar upon said track in a straight and upright position; aid means including a bracket attached to said car and contacting one vetrical side of the frame of said rail, for a substantial distance and a secondary bracket also attached to said car and contacting the other vertical side of the frame of said rail, the ends of the brackets contacting either vertical side of the frame of said rail having rollers thereon; said secondary bracket having an arm and being flexed away from the frame of said rail when placing upon or removing said car from the single rail track.

CONSTAN'I'IN PAUL LENT. 

